Devils Almost Pull Off Comeback, But Allen Allows Three Shootout Goals in 4-3 Loss to Canadiens
· Yahoo Sports
First Period
The New Jersey Devils and Montreal Canadiens traded chances over the first five or so minutes, but both Jake Allen and Jakub Dobes made some good stops. Cole Caufield almost had the Devils beat twice, but he lost the puck after Kovacevic took a swipe at him on the first shift of the game, and Kovacevic cleared a glove rebound later on from a Caufield shot. The best Devils chance came just past the five-minute mark when Jesper Bratt was dicing the Canadiens defense up, backhanding a shot that just missed the mark.
Paul Cotter drew an interference call from Ivan Demidov with under seven minutes to play in the period, giving the Devils their first power play of the game. Luke Hughes quarterbacked, sending the puck wide to Jack early. They set up a shot for a deflection from Bratt, but it didn’t get to the net. After that one attempt, the first unit of the power play struggled to keep possession for over a minute (aside from a one-and-done Jack Hughes backhand by the net), but they had a good chance in the second minute when Connor Brown had a one-timer in the slot that was frozen by Dobes.
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On Montreal’s sixth shot of the game, Jayden Struble took advantage of bad netfront defense by Brenden Dillon, who took his man through a moving screen right through Jake Allen’s crease. Struble’s shot went under the crossbar and came right back out, giving the Canadiens a 1-0 on the perfect screen by Dillon.
Late in the period, Nick Bjugstad slashed the shaft of Ivan Demidov’s stick and was sent to the penalty box with eight seconds to play, preventing Dougie Hamilton from getting one last good chance on Dobes. The Canadiens took 1:52 of power play time into the second period.
Second Period
The Devils killed off the remainder of their penalty, with Hischier almost getting a shorthanded chance that was deflected away right before it got to him. The Devils played decently after the penalty kill, but did not get the same level of five-on-five domination they mostly achieved in the first period.
Things were looking up until Jonas Siegenthaler took a delay of game call with 12:20 to play in the middle frame. Not long after the draw, Brenden Dillon watched as Ivan Demidov took a feed from Cole Caufield to make it a 2-0 game. The pass went right behind him.
Then Jake Allen took a hit from Jonas Siegenthaler and started flopping around the crease. Lane Hutson made it 3-0.
The Devils began to come back when Dawson Mercer came down towards the net from a wide angle. Instead of passing off, he tried to pick a spot in the corner, finding it perfectly behind Dobes’s head. With Mercer making it a 3-1 game, the Devils went on the hunt.
But before the Devils could get more than a few chances, Brenden Dillon took a four-minute double minor for high sticking Zachary Bolduc in the neutral zone. The Devils cleared the puck early, killing the first minute and a half without any chances for Montreal.
Then Jack Hughes and Luke Hughes came on with Jesper Bratt. The brothers did great work to fight for the puck and get it out of the defensive zone for a two-on-one. Bratt took the shot, making a low move that was stopped. Montreal tried to counterattack with a stretch pass that went right to Jonas Siegenthaler on the other end, and he sent it right back to Jack on the far blueline. Jack found Bratt in the passing lane, and Bratt got it back to Jack, who made it a 3-2 game with the shorthanded goal!
Third Period
Starting this period at five-on-five, Nico Hischier had an early chance to tie the game, but he did not get a lot on the shot that was stopped by Dobes. The Devils slowed down considerably over the next several minutes, seeming like they were playing a tied game rather than one in which they were trailing. The next good chance for the Devils came six minutes in when Cody Glass redirected a backhand feed from Simon Nemec on the rush, which was gloved by Dobes.
Down the stretch, the Devils slowly started waking up, but they were not converting on their few chances. They did pull Jake Allen with two and a half minutes to play, though, and Timo Meier came into the offensive zone, joining Hischier, Brown, and Hughes. Meier ripped a wrist shot through traffic, with Nico in front, and the Devils tied the game!
Of course, Jack Hughes was called for delay of game because he touched the puck with a high stick in the defensive zone and it went over the glass. The Devils cleared the puck off the draw, and the officials swallowed their whistles on an interference at the blueline on the re-entry. Thankfully, Allen made the save and the Devils pushed the Canadiens back out a couple more times. The Devils took the game into overtime.
Overtime
The Devils looked great in overtime, but they just could not get a bounce to go their way. On one such occasion, Jakub Dobes was playing the puck with Nico Hischier lurking, and Dobes’s pass was deflected at the goal line. It trickled through the crease, but did not cross the line. Hischier came just inches away from scoring there. Aside from that, most of the chances came from Hughes and Bratt, but Dobes turned them aside.
Shootout
Paul Cotter started the shootout and was stopped by Dobes’s glove.
Cole Caufield made Jake Allen look like an older goaltender who doesn’t care about shootouts. 1-0, Montreal.
But Jesper Bratt tied it up at 1-1 with a great backhand-forehand move around the skate!
Demidov took an easy shot to beat Allen to make it 2-1, putting the Devils on their deathbed.
Jack Hughes did his part, though! He ripped a shot past the blocker to make it 2-2.
Nick Suzuki went for the win but was stopped low!
Lenni Hameenaho went up for his first NHL shootout attempt. He got Dobes to go down, but shot low.
Juraj Slafkosvsky almost won it for Montreal, but Allen barely got it under the arm.
Cody Glass shot it wide.
Oliver Kapanen skated wide and beat Allen easily low.
Get Younger Goaltenders
I am not going to fault Jake Allen alone for the goals he gave up in regulation. I thought Brenden Dillon was the chief issue on the first two. Jonas Siegenthaler needs to be more aware of the crease on the third, but Allen certainly had time to reset himself in the crease. But when it comes to the shootout, I have very little faith in him. When it comes time to be acrobatic, Allen does not look the part. He’s an old goaltender. It’s not a problem for any team to have an old backup goaltender, per se, but the Devils have two old goaltenders.
These are moments that I want a young, big goaltender. Like Nico Daws. Like Jakub Malek. I want a goalie who will take away the bottom of the net while still having the reflexes to make big saves. Could Allen have made himself a bit bigger on that Canadiens power play goal? Maybe. In the grand scheme of where this Devils season went wrong, some of it has to do with the goaltending’s inconsistency. Allen was rock solid in October and November, but he hasn’t really been great since! Since December 1, Allen is 8-12-2 with an .896 save percentage. Playing just a bit more than one out of every three games, Allen has been unable to come up with a .900 save percentage as a backup when the team has needed something to pick them up and stop the slide into mediocrity. Those first 13 games of .919 goaltending were great to watch, but I need a goaltender who is young enough to carry that performance over a full season.
Why, Sheldon?
Why did Sheldon Keefe send Lenni Hameenaho and Cody Glass out in the shootout? Despite Allen not being super competitive in fake hockey, the Devils had a chance to take the lead and possibly win it after Jack Hughes tied it up. And yes, Cody Glass has had a great shot this season, but why Hameenaho? Dawson Mercer scored today. Timo Meier was probably still riding the game-tying goal. Even putting them aside, why not let Hischier work for a game winner? Why not consider Simon Nemec, who has a shootout winner this season?
It’s just one loss in a long season full of frustrating losses, but it seemed like their choices here did not do much to help them.
Your Thoughts
What did you think of tonight’s game? Did you think the Devils deserved to win? What did you think of the officiating with Hockey Night in Canada? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.